By Canadian Press

Canada stays at No. 8 in FIFA women’s rankings, but now shares spot with Brazil

Mar 27, 2020 | 7:34 AM

Canada remains eighth in the latest FIFA women’s world soccer rankings, but now has some company.

Brazil, which tied Canada 2-2 at the Tournoi de France earlier this month, moved up one spot to join the Canadians at No. 8.

The French, who beat Canada 1-0 en route to winning the tournament, jumped one place to No. 3 with the Netherlands dropping to No. 4. Canada tied the Dutch 0-0 at the event.

The other change in the top-10 saw North Korea move up one place to No. 10 at the expense of Japan, which dropped to No. 11. The Japanese lost three straight at the recent SheBelieves Cup.

The world champion Americans remain atop the rankings, ahead of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, England, Australia, Canada and Brazil, and North Korea.

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While the United States won the SheBelieves Cup on home soil, Germany narrowed the gap after claiming the Algarve Cup in a competition shortened by COVID-19.

After winning bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Canadian women climbed six spots to No. 4 — marking the first time they had cracked the top-5 and surpassing their previous high of seventh.

The Canadian women dropped a spot in September 2017 — after the UEFA Women’s Championship moved England up two places to No. 3 while bumping France to No. 4 and Canada to No. 5.

Canada returned to No. 4 in March 2018, at the expense of Australia. But it slipped to No. 5 in the next edition of the rankings. The Canadians dropped two places to No. 7 after exiting in the round of 16 at last summer’s World Cup.

Kenneth Heiner-Moller’s team slipped to No. 8 in the final 2019 rankings. 

The Canadian women currently hold the same ranking as they did going into the 2015 World Cup on home soil. After losing to England in the quarterfinals, Canada fell to No. 11 in the post-competition rankings.

Like other international teams, Canada finds itself in limbo because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. An April 14 friendly against Australia has been called off, while the Tokyo Olympics have been pushed back to 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2020.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press